


Big Calm

by Eliott_Rust



Series: Of airships and artists [2]
Category: Final Fantasy VI
Genre: F/M, One-Sided Attraction, One-Sided Relationship, Unrequited Crush
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-20
Packaged: 2019-05-09 08:48:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14712929
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eliott_Rust/pseuds/Eliott_Rust
Summary: That heavy atmosphere before the final boss fight. Stress, interrogations, and one kiss.





	Big Calm

The Falcon was strangely silent on that early afternoon. The guys had gone to Narshe to get some supplies for training before the final fight, but Setzer had chosen to remain on board. He needed some time alone, to clear his mind and to prepare for the most predictable outcome. Relm was somewhere on the upper deck, drawing on her own, and she was the only living soul that remained with the gambler. However, they hadn’t really looked for each other’s company. 

Truth be told, no one in the team really dared being optimistic regarding the outcome of their fight. Everyone remained utterly quiet, focusing on training and just plainly enjoying the feeling of being alive and together during the meals. The whole world seemed to have slowed down around them. 

The young man was resting in Daryl’s room, not daring reading the cards because any bad omen would’ve broken his spirit. He sat on his lover’s bed and watched through the window, lost in dark thoughts, envious of the birds passing by even though he knew they also were busy surviving. 

A knock on his door made him jump lightly. 

“-Setzer? Can I come in? I… I’d like to talk a little.”

He rose and opened the door before a worrisome looking Relm.

“-Sure, squirt. What’s wrong?”

The young girl closed the door behind her back, slightly leaning against the wood, and she swallowed hard before speaking. 

“-Say, Setzer, do you think we have a chance to make it alive?”

Oh. 

The gambler froze on his spot at the unexpected –but legitimate- interrogation. The adults tried their best to keep Relm out of their most serious discussions, having those nerve-wrecking conversations late at night when she was already in bed, but since Relm would be part of the plan, Setzer realized she definitely had the right to know. However, the only coherent thought spinning in his head at that moment wasn’t being of much help.

Why me?

Since he didn’t answer fast enough and he was having trouble keeping a poker face at a little girl who was questioning her own death, Relm spoke again, calmly.

“-I could have asked the old geezer, of course, but you know, since you’re a professional gambler, I thought that you might be more familiar with taking risks than an old magus. Answer me, please. What are the odds? What would you bet on our survival?”

_My bet is that anyone crazy enough to bet any money on our success will become very rich if we make it alive. Maybe that could be wise to go to a bookmaker and try making the most of … –Oh shut up, brain, it’s so not the kind of advice I need right now._

The gambler shook his head and forced a smile. He certainly wouldn’t let a kid –as annoying as she was- fall into despair. He poked her on the nose and put his hands on his hips.

“-Hey. Do you really think Setzer Gabbiani would be foolish enough to try something that has a 100% chance of failure? I didn’t become a pro by taking uncalculated risks. We will make it. See, no one here is suicidal. We’re determined to win. And we will.” 

His words seemed to have no impact at all on the artist, who lowered her head and sighed deeply. 

“-Alright, squirt. Spill the beans. What really is troubling you?  
-I … I was just thinking that all of you guys are grown ups, you have all lived before but me, I …” 

She turned her face away once more.

“-Nobody has even kissed me yet.” 

Setzer rolled his eyes before casting a tired look on the blonde girl. 

“-Oh, so that’s it.”

He sighed too, stepping away from Relm, and sat on the edge of the bed again. 

“-Chérie, listen, don’t worry about this. You will have time for that. All the time in the world.”

Their eyes met again.

“-So you promise me that we will come out of this alive? For real? Cross your heart?”

Setzer bit his lower lip, closed his eyes, took a deep breathe in, and tapped the bed next to him. 

“-Come here, squirt.” 

For once, Relm shyly complied, sitting awkwardly next to the man. She had been looking at him for weeks, detailing his face, every single of his little habits, the way he furrowed his brows when he was thinking, the way that the tip of his tongue always came out when he was concentrated working on the engines, and the small, almost imperceptible twitch of his pupils when he lied. But being so close to the guy and sitting on a bed together made Relm’s pulse race. She realised how small and young she still was when sunset eyes dived into hers as Setzer lifted her chin with only two fingers. She was suddenly terrified but she certainly didn’t want this to stop. Setzer chuckled at the face she was making. 

“-Close your eyes, Relm. It’ll feel better.” 

She obeyed, almost stopped breathing, when damaged lips softly landed onto hers, gently working against her tender mouth before retreating –far too soon. Relm felt her face literally burning, crimson invading her cheeks and even her forehead. 

For once, she was at loss for words, watching the man before her with all too many emotions colliding in her head. Setzer, for all that mattered, felt strangely at peace with what he had done. There was a switch inside his broken heart that had just been pulled, as he understood that maybe he was too damaged to fall in love with a woman again, but that there was still something he could give to a kid like Relm. He let his hand slide slowly over the little girl’s cheek in a protective gesture. 

“-There is one thing I can promise you, though. I will fight until the end to make sure that next time you get a kiss, you’ll have something better than a wrecked old gambler to give it to you.”

Relm smiled while cupping the hand that he brought to her face and nuzzled into it. 

“-When are we going to the tower?  
-Well, we thought that we needed to train for a little more, so in about one week, maybe two.”

She rose to her feet and hugged him tightly. 

“-Okay. That’s more time than I need.”

She left the gambler alone with those cryptic words. Five days later, on his nightstand, Setzer found a magnificent hand painted tarot deck, with a small note wrapped in a ribbon. 

“-So that you truly become invincible.”


End file.
